


drowning

by ecce13 (orphan_account)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, HAHAHAAHHAHAH JUST THEM BREAKING DOWN YOU KNOW, M/M, SDFGHJKLA, Separations, ha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 08:05:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4297035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ecce13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>it felt like he was drowning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	drowning

**Author's Note:**

> yes my summary is only a sentence...  
> more at the end.

_**drowning** _

_kagakuro_

_pg-13_

_it felt like he was drowning._

* * *

 

  ** _it felt like he was drowning. he takes his last gulp of air. eyes wide, filled with light that was seeping though the water surface._**

 

 

 

it began when kagami stepped onto the airplane that would bring him to his home town. kuroko doesn't see him off, but they agree on post cards and text messages and calls, that kuroko knows somewhere deep inside, that will never last forever. yet, kuroko continues his life like usual, attending a university in japan and convincing himself that, yes it was for the best, it's kagami kun's future. because he knew all he would do was hold kagami kun back. so he let him go. or so he thought.

 

**_he holds his last bit of breathe in._ **

 

kuroko's life in university is not very different. neither is kagami's. they both continue on like nothing has happened, dropping a few short, " how have you been? " messages until it stops. the promised letters, messages and calls eventually stop. as expected, kuroko thinks, walking to his next class. kagami is busy, too busy from training for basketball, that he barely has the time to sit down and rest. but when he does all his mind is filled with is only kuroko. _kuroko_. **kuroko**. **_kuroko_**. when he cooks he looks at the eggs, gently smiling at the thought of kuroko's hard boiled eggs unknowingly. he sees a milkshake store and wonders how kuroko would like the milkshakes here in the US. kagami keeps all these thoughts to himself, chiding himself to being a fool and remembering these things, and reminds himself to drop kuroko a message. the reminder gently fades away just like kuroko does, unknowingly. but, kuroko isn't any better. when he walks past a maji burger, he remembers the tray of burgers kagami would always buy, inhaling them like no tomorrow. he passes by street basketball courts, recalling their high school memories, it was almost endearing. kuroko too, keeps all these in.

 

**_he's choking. he can feel his lungs and heart struggle._ **

 

by now, everything is hitting kuroko. the thoughts of the red haired boy, he barely keeps it in. eventually, he breaks. in front of aomine, of all people. it happened... too quickly. he was over at aomine's place, just doing nothing, when aomine switches the channel to a sports channel. there it is, the red haired boy with the bright smile and his smile is stretched across his cheek and it looks exactly like how he used to look at him. his heart aches. something in him snaps.

 

"aomine kun, switch the channel please." kuroko chokes out, taking a huge inhale of air.

 

"why tetsu? it's the red hair idiot isn't it, talking of which he hasn't– oh." aomine says at first, then turning around to see his friend. his mouth forms an 'o' shape.

 

kuroko's face is impassive, but his eyes are wide and there was a clear sign of shock in them. look even closer and you could see the sadness in his eyes.

 

"please." kuroko croaks out, eyes watering and slowly but surely, the tears roll down his face and drips onto his hands in his lap. his hands are shaking. he's trembling. _why now?_ he wonders.

  
_why am i crying? why am i shaking so badly, wasn't i ready?_ he stares at his hands, countless thoughts running through his mind as more tears drip into his ever so shaking hands.

 

"tetsu–" aomine says, before his lips tighten into a straight line, eyebrows knot and he mumbles slightly angry. "i'll kill that bastard, whatever he did to you is not forgivable i swear if he–"

 

kuroko gulps, taking a deep breathe to calm himself and then quietly says," it's not him. it's me. i'm sorry aomine kun, i'll just go first. "

 

they never talk about it again.

 

it was a university game, they won, it sure wasn't easy. it wasn't like japan. there were people taller then him, faster then him, stronger then him. but he didn't give up, not just yet. he held on, he pushed and he prevailed. he wonders with the flashes shining bright in his eyes, is kuroko seeing this? is he proud of me? after all, i didn't give up, like kuroko, i didn't give up.

he walks towards the lockers and he tells his teammates to go on first. he sits in front of his locker, he pulls out a towel to dry himself and a piece of paper flutters out. it's a photo of seirin. something in his heart tightens, he looks at everyone, with tears running down their faces and smiles as wide as possible across their face. he looks at the winter cup clutched tightly in their grip. he looks at his baby blue haired partner, his smile is the widest it has ever been.

 

he remembers that day. it was the first time he had seen kuroko cry. it hurt him to see kuroko cry, it felt like something stabbing into his hear, lodging in there and refusing to leave. his  heart tightens again, and it beats faster. _faster._ he sees a drip of water on the photo. something in him snaps. he desperately wipes away the water and shoves the photo back into his locker, he slams it shut and he rests his back on it. he slides down and settles onto the floor, hands clutching tightly at his jersey. more tears fall. it was so similar, but the jersey just didn't feel right all of a sudden, it wasn't white, it didn't say 10 and it surely did not say seirin. his grip tightens on the jersey as his shaking fist hits the locker beside his, he faces up, trying to keep in the tears, but it not only doesn't work, more fall. he's crying by now, lungs screaming for air as he desperately bit his lip to keep in the sobbing noises. but it didn't keep his heart from screaming out.

 

**_he inhales a huge amount of water, slowly but surely losing consciousness._ _the light is fading from his eyes, as his hands reach out in attempts to grab the last bit of light he will ever see. his heart slows, lungs giving up._ **

 

kuroko slowly gives up, he stops talking about high school, about a rowdy teenage boy with split eyebrows and endearing smiles who was an idiot. kuroko keeps away all the keepsakes of seirin, basketball. but he doesn't keep away the wristbands. he occasionally slips them on, and they still feel so natural. he has a small grin on his face as he twists his wrists around, and the memories of seirin run through his mind. he slips them off, giving them one last look. he pulls open the side drawer and drops them into the drawer, and closes the drawer. a small ray of sunlight manages to reach into the not completely closed drawer and it spreads its light onto the wristbands.

 

**_suddenly, he feels a warm, familiar callused hand grab his, pulling him out of the water, into to light._ **

 

aomine mentions about the returns of a certain red haired boy— or should kuroko say man now? he wonders how much he's changed, is he taller now? is he more mature now? or was he still them same? he smiles and shakes his head, and continues on his work. but the thought never leaves his head, never completely. his phone buzzes later that day, it shows a message from kise.

 

" kurokocchi! we're organising a party for kagamicchi's return! you're invited, so is akashicchi and the rest of them! it's this sunday in the evening at my place see you there kurokocchi! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) "

 

he grins slightly at the use of the nicknames and the use of emoticons, he shakes his head and gets back to his work, and somehow, just somehow, his shoulders feel lighter. he manages to finish his work without a hitch that day. and when he finally lies down in bed, he asks himself, does he still remember me? will he remember me? it ignites a small flame in his chest. but after all, kuroko feels he is just plain old kuroko, and nobody remembers him, nobody notices him. he tosses and turns in attempts to sleep, stupidly true thoughts running through his mind like no end, and by 2 am, he falls asleep to a damp pillowcase, curled up into small ball and red puffy eyes.

 

but the flame in his chest isn't put out so easily. it is kuroko, after all.

 

**_he chokes, sputtering out water and then opening his eyes, looking at the glaring light. lungs gasping for air as his heart starts up again._ **

 

he hasn't changed at all. kuroko looks at the red haired boy who flinches and kise lunging at him, yelling a high pitched "kagamicchi" as he gets thumped on the back of his head by aomine, almost getting licked by nigou, and this all looks so familiar. it feels like home, kuroko smiles, standing in the corner so sure that nobody would realise, until kagami looks up and meets his eyes, giving him the exact heart warming smile that says, i'm home. and kuroko unknowingly smiles and in his eyes read the words, welcome home.

 

kagami steps into the room, expecting all this chaos, but not at all at the same time. he flinches at the tight hug and ear ringing nickname that kise clearly hasn't shaken off, and he groans at the hit on the back of his head and he feels a wet lick on his feet, he stiffens up. oh shit he thinks, and he looks down, a pair of icy blue eyes looking at him and a tail shaking non stop. oh. it's nigou. and he's tripled in size, how wonderful. and nigou jumps up, front legs reaching up to his ribs, snout dangerously close to his face. he looks around for help. he looks up almost with a crazed look in his eyes, and he meets another pair of ice blue eyes, this time, they're softer and they look more mature then he remember they were, but he still looked young. and he still looked at beautiful as when he first saw him. the edges of his lips pull his face into a familiar smile.

 

**_his eyes focus, his heart starts beating normally, his lungs starts functioning normally and— oh. it's kagami. it's kagami with the bright smile he has on his face._ **

 

"hey" is the first thing kuroko has heard from the redhead in two years. but it still sounds the same. he replies with a "hi" as they stand outside in the balcony and a slight breeze tickling their faces, as the rest of their friends knock themselves out in the background, but right now, neither of them can hear anyone else. its only them right now, and kuroko's heartbeat is thumping in his ears. they tune out everything and kuroko thinks, having kagami's heat beside him is so, so familiar and it feels like home. kuroko turns to look at kagami and to ask him a question before he realises, that kagami is looking at him. he's staring, he's admiring, he's drinking in all of kuroko and it makes kuroko's heart flutter in a way it hasn't in two years. kagami looks at kuroko like he is everything he needs and wants in this universe, and he has stars in his eyes. he looks so in love. and kuroko looks into kagami's eyes and he sees himself, his eyes are wide but they have a warm look to them, kuroko finds himself looking at kagami the exact same way, nothing is spoken in this moment, yet they hear so much from each other. kagami blinks and he smiles a soft smile, one that makes him look mature, the smile that was for kuroko and kuroko and he says in the same warm voice of his,"i'm home, kuroko." 

 

the edges of kuroko's lips perk up and he says," welcome home, kagami kun."

 

this time, they face each other and kagami reaches his hand out and it caresses kuroko's face. it feels the same way he imagined it to be, soft, smooth and he looks at kuroko under the moonlight, he looks so precious and so fragile but he looks stunning. kuroko gently leans into kagami's familiar hand, it's still big, and rough and its all like kagami and his touch has a certain tenderness to it. before they knew it, kuroko could feel kagami's breathe on his lips. he closes the gap.

 

the kiss is sweet, short, yet it pours all of their feeling into it, it gives kuroko a electric feeling down his spine and it warms him up and everything feels so natural. they split apart and they grin at each other, inhaling each other's familiar scent and kuroko says," welcome home, taiga kun."

 

a photo falls from the desk and into the patch of sunlight on the floor. "i'm coming, give me a minute taiga," kuroko rushes to pick it up before pulling out the wristbands and slipping them on and placing the photo into the drawer before he rushes off. the drawer is left slightly open again, sunlight creeps onto it and it's a photo of that night, the two of them staring into each other's eyes and they looked at each other like they were the most precious thing in the universe, they looked at each with so much love in their eyes. and they looked so, so happy.

 

**_and now, he is alive again._ **

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> 2277 words  
> omg im going to go lie on my bed and relive my hurting butt now  
> baii


End file.
